Company fined £100k after man dies following fall from top of bin

A food company in Belfast has been fined £100,000 after an employee fell from the top of a bin as he attempted to compress rubbish.

Wei Wang, 61, died after sustaining a head injury in August 2023 while working at Lee Foods Oriental Supermarket on Donegall Pass.

Judge Patrick Lynch KC imposed the penalty for breaches of workplace safety on Lee Feng, trading as Lee Foods, at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.

The lid of the bin was being held up by a rear car park gate and as Mr Wang was using the lid to support himself while compressing the rubbish with his feet, the lid slipped from its position. He fell four feet (1.2m) from the bin and struck his head on the ground.

Despite being conscious but dazed in the immediate aftermath of the fall, he then went to a staff toilet where he lost consciousness.

Mr Wang died four days later in hospital from a head injury which a pathologist described as "unsurvivable".

Lee Foods reported the incident to Belfast City Council and an investigation was launched.

Crown barrister Charles MacCreanor KC told the judge there were 14 instances of the same procedure being used by employees from 28 July to 15 August 2023.

He said that buying more bins "would have avoided this practice".

MacCreanor said: "The forklift was being used firstly wrongly to gain access to get to the bin and then members of staff were climbing into the bin... and just holding on to give support to whatever they could hold on to.

"In this case the bin itself is not stable, it moves by accident when the forklift touches it, it's not harnessed or supported in any way."

MacCreanor also said that this was "not a planned system of work" but that management was aware of what was happening and "insufficient action was taken".

"What was ongoing could have been prevented and this death was easily, simply and sadly preventable," he added.

The court heard the company cooperated fully with the investigation.

The company pleaded guilty to charges of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees on dates between 28 July and 15 August 2023 and failing to plan, supervise and carry out work at a height in a safe manner on 14 August that year.

Defence barrister Bobbie-Leigh Herdman expressed the company's "deepest sympathy and regret" to Mr Wang's family.

She said steps have been taken by Lee Foods regarding waste management.

The court also heard that management had suggested to staff to stop the practice, but had also fully accepted that it was the responsibility of management to "take stronger steps".

The judge read a statement made by Mr Wang's daughter who recalled going to the warehouse on the day her father fell and saw him unconscious.

"They never got to speak to him again," the judge said.

He added: "No penalty, no fine equates to the life of the deceased nor is it intended to."